11. A Monster’s Harsh Upbringing
When Temujin was nine, his father, a minor Mongol chieftain, was poisoned. Rivals in the tribe then expelled the widow and her family to fend for themselves on the harsh Steppe. Temujin endured extreme poverty and want alongside his family for years, during which he killed one of his brothers for refusing to share a rodent. Growing up hard, Temujin grew into a hard man.
He also grew into a charismatic one. By the time he was a young man, Temujin had amassed a small and devoted following, which he parlayed into bringing the Mongol tribes under his sway, one after another. Temujin erased intra-tribal distinctions by exterminating each tribe’s nobility, and combined the commoners into a unified entity henceforth known as the Mongols, united by their personal allegiance to him.
